Shoe heel



. F. M. SLOUGH SHOE HEEL Filed Dec. 9, 1920 can Patented Feb. 24, 1925.

FRANK M. SLOUGH, 0F ELYBIA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO LAMARTINE BROOKS FAY, OF

PATENT ICEa ELYBIA, OHIO.

SHOE HEEL.

Application filed December To all #0710171. it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. SLoUeH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elyria, county of Lorain, and State of Ohio,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe Heels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description, as will enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to shoe heels, and particularly to that type of shoe heels wherein an intermediate portion between the bottom or tread end of the heel and the top or attaching end, is of relatively small cross sectional area; my invention relates in some of its phases, to metallic shoe'heels and an improved method of making the same, although in other of its phases, my invention is not confined to metallic shoe heels, and also is not confined to any particular method of manufacture.

It has been the practice to make ladies shoe heels, particularly of the French type, of metal, the same being cast by a die casting process or otherwise, and in such heels the attaching nails whereby the heels are secured to the bottom of a shoe, are cast integrally with the heel proper with their points projecting upwardly therefrom. The cobbler or other workman attaching such heels to shoes, drives or forces the heel and shoe together, to cause the nails to enter the bottom of the shoe and the nails are generally clinched over at their ends so as to lock the heel securely into position. Sometimes, however, during this process, the nails become bent or broken or become loosened from the metal wherein they are cast, and the heels containing such defective nails, as the case may be, are. useless and must be j unked, or else due to an imperfect connection between the shoe and the shoe heel, the wearer will become dissatisfied.

It is an object of my invention to eliminate the necessity of providing a means whereby nails may be replaced within the heel whenever this is desirable. It is a further object of my invention to construct a metallic shoe heel of the type mentioned, in a new and useful manner; it is a further object of my invention to provide a shoe heel which may be removed from a shoe to which it has,been secured by the nails whose ends may be clinched without removing the nails there- 9, 1920. Serial N0. 429,420.

from. This last mentioned object, being accomplished, enables the shoe repairman to remove heels from shoes which have been discolored or marred in various ways, and refinish the exterior of said heels by enameling or by other suitable process.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a shoe heel which may be made of steel, brass or other metal instead of aluminum, thus enabling the shoe heels to be electro-plated or be subjected to other finishing processes which are not as successful in the case of aluminum heels. One of these processes which I have in mind and which may attend the use of steel in shoe heels, in the sheet metal-article manufacturing arts, as the Parker process, which gives steel a black finish which penetrates into the steel to a considerable depth and which is not readily marred by scratching.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an independent supporting means which may also be made of steel in whole or in part, thus enabling one to electrically weld the heads of the nails to the supporting means, and thereby obviating the necessity of casting the nails into such a metal as aluminum, as is the present practice, thus securing a better joint between the nail heads and the support, in a less expensive way.

A further object of my invention is to provide a new nail supporting means which may be utilized in heels as at present manufactured, so as to utilize heels from which the nails have been broken or in which the connection between the nails and the heels, has become faulty.

Another object of my invention is to enable a heel tread, such as a leather or rubber heel tread, to be secured to the bottom of the heel by securing it to the nail-supporting means above mentioned.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will become apparent to those skilled in the art, by reference to the following description, and to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a vertical cross-sectional view of a shoe heel embodying my invention. In

this figure an interior View is bad, showing the nailsupporting means and the method of securing the nail-supporting means to the heel, as well asthe method of attaching the tread of the heel thereto, also in, crosssection.

Fig. shows a plan view of the heel of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a plan view, taken from be low, of a securing cup, located in the tread end of the shoe heel of my invention, with the leather fillingand rubber tread lift removed therefrom, to enable one to see the end crepe); thereof, whereby a screw 5 may be secui edto the said inverted cone. This cone is preferably constructed of sheet steel in the form of weluthe said web having a rim portion and, armsll extending;- from the said rirni portion downwardly to the apeX of the cone, where there is provided a threaded opening to admit the machine screw 5. The. 'arms 11 are preferably stiffened by havinglongitudinal ribs (.Xttlhlinp-Jradially. from .thesaid screw opening Flanges 7 are provided from. the said rim portion, preferably extending inwardly to supportthe nailsG placid head downwards upon thesaid flanges.

Prior to insertion of thesai d invertedcone memberinto. theiheel shell, the nails are secured to. the flanges, preferably by being electrically spot-welded to the flanges, or in any other suitable way. outer surface of the inverted cone ,is generallyotthat shape to make. it fit snugly.

within the inner walls otthc upper portion otthe heel shell 2.

Ilocated in the lower portion of the hee ,L shellzl provide an inverted, cup member 4- having an opening 17 in the end wall or roof thereof, andfwhich opening is adaptedio permit the passage of the screw 5, wh'ereby the said invertedcup member and the said inverted cone member may be secured together with their perforated ends trnvards each other. A plurality of openings 22 are madein theside walls of theinverted cup member to cause it to belig'hter than it otherwise would beand still maintain sufli cient thickness to make it still". The said cup member has its outer surface formed of such a shape as to fit snuo lv against the inner walls .otthe bottom of the heel shell 2, and "when the. screw 5 is turned up t rhtly w th JiJS endpassmg through the opening in.

the bottom of the inverted cone member 3,

the; two members 3 and-l willbe lnullt lllled a certain distance alert by the conver in u b C The contour of the.

walls of the shoe heel shell, and the screw 5 will tightly hold in fixed positions relative to each other the shell 2, the inverted cone member 8 and the inverted cup member 4:.

The inverted cup member l is provided with a pair of lips 15 at its sides and a lip 16 at its rear and near the mouth of the inverted cup, and which lips before the assembly of the heel structure stand vertically in the position substantially as illustrated in Fig. 4:, but when the worlnnan prepares the lEQQi'StI'UClTHlG for service, he will, after the three principal parts of the heel have been bolted together by'the screw 5, drop into the mouth of tie cup member 4t leather lifts or fillers to nearly fill the said cup meniber, un l then will bend over the lips 15 and 16 to securely hold the said leather filler; in place. rubber or leather heel lift 19 may then be nailed on to the bottom of the hcclstructure by nails. such as lilo-passing from the said lift into the leather tillers 14. lVhen this is accomplished, the heel is ready for attachment to the shoe, and is attached to the bottom of a shoe in the usnal'manner by forcingthe'nails 6 through the. said shoe bottom, there n they may be clinchedor cured in any other desiredway. If desired, 1

the nails may be replaced by bolts, but it is my belief that nailsare preferaliile.

l l henever it is desired to remove the heel from the shoe, this may be accomplished in the heel s ructure of my invention by remor ing the rubber or leather lift 12, straightening the lips 15 and 16 so that the leather lifts or tillers i l: will drop out of the cup fl, and i then t-hescre-w 5 will be backed off until the cup 4. is released from the inverted cone 3, whereupon thefshell Q-may be. completely.

removed tronr tluv heel, the inverted howevenstill being securedto the heel by the nails. (3., The heel shellQ, may then b repaired or re-enameled, or refinished in any suitable way, as may be desired. and rer attached to the cone member. l). and thereby to the shoe, by inverting; the order of the cone,

processes described t'ortaking the heel shell from the shoe.

My invention, in so far as itrelates to.

ly in use hare a plurality ofledoges which.

are integral. with the shell, of the heel and which shell .is. commonly composed or, cast alunnnunr and. the nails pro ect from 1 the ledges, being, secured therein by their.

heads. The securing of such nails to such heels is accomplished by casting the nail heads w thin said ledges whentheheel shell is manufactured the casting}; process.

Such heel shells when the nails become broken or dislocated from their sockets within the said ledges are now commonly thrown away, and a great loss ensues. By the use of mynovel inverted cone-shaped member, which supports the nails 6 in the manner before described, I am enabled to take such heels, and by making the coneshaped member of such outer contour as will enable it to fit around said ledges and by arranging the ears or flanges 7 so that they will preferably occur at other points adj acent the periphery of the heel than at the ledges, such heels of the prior art may be again fully equipped with nails and used. llhen so used, I may employ a member corresponding to the cup-shaped member 4:, or where the prior art heels are solid at their necks, rather than having an opening there-- through, a hole through such solid portion can be used instead of the opening 17 of a special cup-shaped member, as 4-. Also in the case of some of the prior art heels I may secure to such a solid portion, located by the neck, the inverted cup-shaped memher 4 having lips 15 and 16, and by the use of such lips secure a filler ll, as before described, and enable a tread, such as 12, to be attached to the bottom of such prior art heels, as described in connection with my own improved heel.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that my invention has a number of phases, some of which may operate independently of the others. It has heretofore been considered impractical to form a shoe heel shell of the shape commonly employed for French heels constructed of drawn sheet steel, since if the steel were made thick enough, so that it could be drawn as much as would be necessary to provide the material at the bottom portion of the said shell, it would be too heavy, and if the sheet were made thin enough, so as to be satisfactory for use, the metal would rupture when drawn down, to complete the forming of the bot-- tom of the shoe heel.

In connection with my invention I have evolved a method of manufacturing such a shoe heel of thin, soft, drawn steel, whereby when finished the same can be made as light. or lighter than, the aluminum heels now in use, and will be stronger than such heels. This will be so, even when the weight of the interior parts of both types of heels is considered, especially since the inverted cone member 3 and the inverted cup member 4- are so disposed and shaped to reinforce the outer heel shell 2.

I accomplish the drawing, of the steel shell'by making it in two pieces, the first piece being stamped from a steel fiat sheet and then drawn downwardly in the usual way to form a cup member having an opening at the bottom, the said cup member extending down to the points marked 8 on the drawing of Fig. 1. I then form that portion of the shell below the points 8 from a cylindrical tube of soft, drawn steel and expanding and swaging the tube to form the flared mouth and the straight side edge 28, respectively. Then by placing the upper and lower portions of the heel each on. a jaw of an electric welding machine and bringing the jaws together, the heat developed by the electric contact between the upper and lower portion of the heel shell. joining at the points 8 will fuse the steel shell and weld the two parts together.

If desired, the lower portion of the heel shell 2, which I have described as being made from a cylinder of soft, drawn steel, can be made from a flat piece of steel pressed downwardly to form a cup with an opening; in the bottom, but I consider it preferable to manufacture the lower portion of the heel from a cylinder, as fewer failures will occur, due to rupturing of the. material. Of course, the drawing processes above described will be accomplished in the best known w-ys and may be done in a number of operations with intervening an.- nealing of the sheet metal opera-ted upon between drawing operations. The electric welding of the two parts to join them toeether may also be accomplished in various ways, which would be the equivalent of that described herein.

After the electric welding process has been accomplished, the joint at 88 between the upper and lower parts of the shell 2, by grinding can be. smoothed, so that it will not be visible after the heel shell has been given a finish.

Such a heel shell is preferable to that of aluminum for a number of reasons, among them being strength, durability, economy, lightness and the ability to take a finish on its outer surfaces which will not be subject to removal by coming in contact with extra' neous objects.

I prefer, for some purposes, to give the steel heel shell, as above constructed, or constructed in any equivalent way, a [inish by what is commonly known in the art as the Parker process. I find that heels so finished, when scratched, do not show the effects of such scratching, since the material of the metal is colored to some considerable depth. The interior parts of the heel, such as the cone 3 and the cup 4, may be similarly linished, to prevent it from rusting, or may remain unfinished, or may be electrically plated, such as copper-plated, if desired.

Having thus described my invention, I wish it to be understood that numerous and extensive departures may be made from the embodiment herein illustrated and described for the purpose of explaining the invention, but without departing from the spirit there-- of. Also, the methods employed may be varied somewhat to accomplish the same results in substantially the same Way, all of which I consider Within the purview of my invention.

lVhat Ielaini is:

1. In a French heel for ladies shoes, in combination with an exterior shell composed of relativel thinsteel, the said steel shell comprising upper and lower portions joined together at a heel neck or intermediate portionof reduced horizontal cross sectional area, a pair: of bracing elements Within the said thin steel shellto strengthen the same, :one of the said elements being located in the upper portion of the steel shell, the other element being Within the lower portion 01 the said steel shell, the outer surfaces of the said elements comitorming generally in shape so as to contact with the inner contacting sur faces of the said shell, the said elements being secured together at their adjacent ends, a plurality of nails mounted onto the upper limit of the said upper element by having theirheads secured to the said rim, the said heel being adapted to be secured to the bottom of a 'shoe by the said nails,

lips extending from the sidewalls near the mouth of the said cup, a Wearing-tread]for the said heel having a portion extending into the saidrecess, the said portion being united to the main body of the said earing tread by a neck portion of reducedhorizontal cross sectional area, and the said tread being adaptedto be secured to the said cup by turning over the said lips over the shoulder resulting from the saidrecess,

and means to secure the said cup Within the i said heel recessed portion.

in witness whereof, I have vhereunto signed my name this l-th day of December, 1920. I

FRANK-1 M. sLoUeH. 

